SENSE OF SELF
A Solo Show by Meagan Viken
Exploring your whole self, enjoying your whole self. It’s not something our mothers teach us to do. Sense of Self is a body of work containing experimental analog photographs that serve as a visual reflection of self discovery while unlearning and healing from lifelong stigmas attached to women and the societal value placed heavily, and sometimes solely, on their physical appearance.
Opening reception May 7th at Noon - Showing Saturdays until June 25th
ABOUT MEAGAN
Artist Biography
Film is magic. Meagan Viken is a film photographer whose work focuses primarily on the connections that she has built with her surroundings. Themes of nostalgia, memory, and the juxtaposition of life and death are all foundational building blocks that lie beneath Meagan's work and processes. Much of her work draws on the relationship between man and nature, exploring the energetic and spiritual kinship that develops by immersing oneself in that relationship. Meagan is based in Seattle and considers herself an emerging artist. Revisiting her love for vintage plastic and toy cameras as her chosen tools, she is excitedly getting involved in the Seattle area art community.
Artist Statement
When I was a toddler, I listened to my mom and grandma constantly talking about everything wrong with their bodies. Then, when I was ten, the church taught me that my body was a weapon that made boys think and do bad things. And when I was thirteen, my body didn't fit into racing swimsuits, so I was told I would never be fast. At fifteen, I was given the nickname "Tits" and was de-pantsed in gym class while the teacher pointed and laughed. Then, at sixteen, when I started to have sex and needed birth control, my doctor told me that pretty young ladies shouldn't use their bodies for attention. In college, I was a swimming lessons instructor; a parent from my toddlers class hit on me in class and followed me home from work. While earning my art degree, women colleagues and instructors would eye roll and invalidate me while speaking on topics like body dysmorphia and sexuality. This work is me - taking back control. And destructing false sense of self that revolved around my appearance and my body. I will honor this body, this self. Thank you to the women who have come before me. And to those who are willing to listen and discuss.